Pursuit ends in corn field

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Boonville Daily News - Boonville, MO

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Posted Nov. 30, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 30, 2012 at 2:14 PM

Posted Nov. 30, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 30, 2012 at 2:14 PM

Boonville

Boonville — Shortly before 9:00 a.m. Thursday, Cooper County Sheriff's Deputies were tipped off to the possibility of a stolen vehicle heading westbound on I-70. The vehicle was stolen from Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Cooper County Deputies set up at locations near Highway 87 and I-70 and soon observed a silver Ford SUV heading westbound with Michigan license plates. A check of the plates indicated the vehicle was stolen and deputies initiated a stop on the vehicle. The vehicle's driver refused to stop and increased to speeds approaching 100 mph. The pursuit continued west on I-70 as the deputies and Missouri Highway Patrol units followed the suspect vehicle.
The suspect turned off of I-70 at the Blackwater exit and headed westbound on Z Hwy, continued west on AE Hwy and crossing into Saline county. The pursuit ended when the suspect attempted to elude the pursuing units by turning into a cornfield off Saline County Road 118.
He apparently did not expect deputies to follow him into the field. A Cooper County Deputy along with a Highway Patrol Trooper followed the suspect vehicle into the field and cornered him at a wooded fenceline on the north side of the field. The suspect was taken into custody at that location.
After investigation by deputies the subject, identified as 30-year-old Ross Emerson Culver, was found to have escaped from a county jail in Kalamazoo, Michigan and has several outstanding Michigan warrants. Culver is also a suspect in an armed robbery at a gas station in Kalamazoo.
Culver is currently being held at the Cooper County Detention Center on the Michigan warrants for Escape and Failure to Appear on a burglary charge. He has no bond. Cooper County Deputies are submitting paperwork to the Cooper County Prosecutor today for charges related to the pursuit.